A stacking apparatus is often placed adjacent to, or attached to, a discharge end of a sheet-feeding device, conveyor system, or other sheet-delivery mechanism. The stacking apparatus generally functions to allow discharged, for example, envelopes, labels, stock, cards, sheets, and the like to stack neatly until an operator or an automated system removes the discharged sheets from the stacking apparatus. Preferably, the stacking apparatus can be adjusted in two dimensions to accommodate items of varying dimensions.
A dropper-style stacking apparatus generally includes a mechanism for dropping a predetermined number of stacked sheets into an appropriate receiving device below, such as a catch bin, conveyor system or secondary sheet-feeding apparatus. When a dropper-style stacking apparatus is designed to accommodate a relatively large stack of sheets, the sheet-feeding device must generally feed sheets slowly into such a large-capacity stacking apparatus. The slower sheet-feeding speed is required because the sheets initially being fed into a larger stacking apparatus must fall a greater distance. Sheets dropping a greater distance at high speeds often tend to become disorganized on their descent into the larger stacking device, creating undesirable jams.